February 25, 2013

Totara Park Visit

Lots of fun was had at the Totara Park Playground visit! You can easily get a pram up there if you take the Bridle Track. There is lots to keep various ages interested too. So if you're looking for a different park set quietly in amongst native trees, this is worth a visit!

If swimming's your thing, take your gear and have a swim in the free pool on your way home.

We were sad to have Belinda with us for the last time this week before she flew out to join her hubby in making a new life in Canada. It's been so great having her with us last year. We will miss you heaps, Bee!!


February 17, 2013

Welcome to 2013!

Our new year kicked off with a coffee & cake week. This term we have a few outings lined up, so be sure to check the calendar to see where we'll be.

At the end of last year, we sadly farewelled Jo W & Julia from the team.  There were flowers, small gifts, and quite a few tears!
Jo has been a part of the team for about 5 years and her friendliness and amazing design skills will be sorely missed. Jo and her family moved to Pakuranga at the beginning of this year. Now that Nathan has started school and Sophie is in kindy she'll be doing more Graphic Design work from home. She said she'll come and visit us again though as WMums has been very special to her over the years.
Julia re-joined our team when she moved back from Melbourne. But did you know, that Catherine & Julia started this mothers group back when they had their first children, and before it was even named WM. So we've been lucky enough to have her for about 7 years in total. We will miss Julia on our team, but she needed to focus her time on running Mainly Music. As you may have noticed, she hasn't gone 'far' and we're blessed to have her help out with things from time to time (Thanks Julia!).

At the end of 2012, Lisa C joined Jo P & I on our team.  We want to extend a HUGE welcome to you, Lisa! We are so excited to have her on board, and love the chance to have fresh input and new ideas.

On that note, remember if you have any ideas or suggestions, please feel free to let us know (email, txt, phone etc). We love having feedback from you all, and this is what helps us to shape this group to better serve you.

Christmas & New Years seems to get people thinking about their life from a slightly bigger perspective. Some people are brave enough to make resolutions too. This year, I've been thinking about something a little different. I love having that long break. 31st Dec gives way to the 1st Jan...  With it, something often shifts in our thinking.  It's just a date change though, and often in the middle of a week. What is it that clicks our minds over into 'new' things? We tend to stop and take stock of things. We look behind to assess where we've come from. Maybe we decide on things we want to change, do better. But we also look ahead; wonder about what God has in store for us.

It occurred to me, that year ends are really a gift. They have the ability to give us fresh starts, fresh hope and the chance to learn new things. I found myself feeling thankful that God saw fit to package our 'time' into seasons, months, weeks and days. No matter how a day (week, month, year etc) goes, we can choose to start over. We can use those moments in time to make changes and choose to move forward. What a blessing to start each day fresh with our kids! And kids are so great at waking up with a clean slate aren't they? We could learn a lot from them.

I am thankful for this gift of new beginnings...